New World: A Continuation
by Sayoko Bizen
Summary: Picks up from where the anime left off, and then some. Why? Because 78 episodes is not enough.
1. Page 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kyou Kara Maoh_.

**Sayo: **Hi kids! Submitted for the perusal of everybody is "New World", my second _Kyou Kara Maou_ effort. I wanna take this opportunity to once again thank everybody who left comments for "Over the Threshold". This new one is for all of you. 

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Wolfram was decidedly bored. His only intent in marrying Yuuri was love, nothing more, and he disinterestedly blew away blonde bangs from his eyes at all this talk about titles and the Royal Consort's role in the kingdom, as Wolfram never wanted to rule. Out of politeness to the council though (and to pretend to make a show of his attentiveness to the afternoon's proceedings) he whined, "So what is my title again?"

Yuuri deliberated on the question so seriously that Lord Gwendal von Voltaire with his grey-black hair, stern face and cold, calculating blue eyes, beamed at Yuuri as only he could in his inimitable stoic way when the King addressed Wolfram, "Well, love, since you are not female you can't be a queen, and I believe you to be my equal, if not my superior in all matters of protocol." Yuuri surmised, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding to himself, something that his spouse found rather comical, and therefore foolish. Yuuri had only pointed at the obvious, and hadn't really answered his question. This was one of the problems with being the one setting instead of following a precedent.

"Yuuri, you wimpy idiot," Wolfram hissed, his voice almost inaudible and seething with anger. "You are the King of the realm. I was born into the nobility as the son of a former Demon Queen, but since The Great One chose you to succeed him as the 27th Maou, that supersedes all protocol!" Wolfram finally yelled, his green eyes flaring, challenging the King to disagree. Gwendal's brow was twitching in distaste of the sudden turn of affairs, and Lord Conrad Weller, the brown-haired and brown-eyed soldier who was the head of Yuuri's royal bodyguard and who was also his godfather, sat back and smiled his usual indulgent smile. Wolfram was his and Gwendal's youngest brother, and Conrad let his baby brother have his way now as ever before. It seems that even King Yuuri has gotten with the program.

"And don't patronize me, Weller!" Lord Wolfram von Bielfeld, third of former Demon Queen Cecilie von Spitzveg's brood and now spouse to the 27th Demon King Yuuri Shibuya, wrathfully bellowed at his brother who just kept on smiling.

Yuuri just scrunched his jet-black eyes shut as he smiled and just waved the threats to himself and his council off. "Have it your way, honey," He replied good-naturedly, thinking how ineffably cute his other half looked when he's angry.

Wolfram bit his lip and thought he might do so until said lip bled. He was that cross. And hungry. He might be cross because he was so hungry. Without another word Wolfram stood up from the council table fuming and bolted through the door, heading straight for the kitchens where he would demand a meal to be prepared. He usually ate sparingly, but today, he felt like he could eat a horse for some reason. Maybe it was because… Wolfram blushed. He hadn't had breakfast because he'd slept in after he and and the raven-haird monarch… several times…

"Daddy!" A little girl's voice called out, snapping Wolfram out of his reverie. It was Princess Greta, his and Yuuri's little girl, and Wolfram immediately spun around, sat down on his heels and waited for his adopted daughter to come running into his arms. "Good morning Daddy! Are you going to the kitchens too? 'Cause I'm kind of hungry and I was having second thoughts about going there. But if you want to eat together, that'll be great!" Greta exclaimed, positively beaming at her adopted father whom she thought looked perfect, what with his golden hair, his green, emerald-like eyes, and his mouth which can be stern like her Uncle Gwendal's but which always curled in a wide smile for her.

All of Wolfram's irritation from this morning's happenings all evaporated at the sight of his little princess' smile. "I'm actually starving, my darling princess, and now that you have mentioned it, I think this will prove to be a fun time," _in comparison to sitting in Council discussing titles! _Wolfram's brow began to twitch again at the thought.

"Daddy? Did I say something improper? Would you rather we eat at the State Dining Hall instead of in the kitchens?" was Greta's half-fearful query.

Wolfram laid a gentle hand on his daughter's mass of red hair and kissed her cheek reassuringly. "No, sweetheart. The kitchens will be fine for just Daddy and his favorite daughter," Wolfram answered, his green eyes taking on the proudest fatherly glow. He was raising her right. His daughter was going to be a royal through and through, thank Shinou for that.

"But I am your only daughter, Daddy!" Greta proclaimed, laughing.

Wolfram smiled back. But had a feeling at the pit of his stomach that, if his gut feel was right (about matters aside from the hunger pangs he was experiencing at that moment), the truth of the statement might not stay true for long.


	2. Page 2

Yuuri felt more and more uneasy as talk about Wolfram's new status in the kingdom was discussed without the object of the discussion being there. He thought things like this should have been considered before he married Wolfram but then, it was upon his own insistence that they were married so suddenly. On the other hand, in a world wherein same sex marriages were commonplace, surely SOME thought about this should have been made! Yet there was no precedent somehow, and that made this whole discussion of the utmost importance. And it was the utter significance of this matter made Yuuri's head ache.

"Your Ma—Yuuri?" Conrad worriedly asked, managing to catch himself at the last moment. Yuuri hated it when Conrad called him by the honorific, what with Conrad's having given Yuuri his name and all that even before Yuuri was born. Conrad felt a genuine respect for the nineteen-year-old monarch though that had nothing to do with Yuuri's station, so that time and again, Conrad needed to watch himself.

Alerted at the sound of his name, Yuuri sat up straighter and tuned in as Gwendal went over a list of a thousand-and-one recommendations for Wolfram's new title Gwendal had penned down himself. This was going to be a LONG meeting, Yuuri thought. Yuuri hung his head for a second before once again sitting in attention to an oblivious Gwendal still rattling off terms of designation.

Meanwhile, in the State Dining Hall, Wolfram was busy spoon-feeding Greta. Greta was already thirteen years old and a human at that, but she let the eighty-four-year-old Mazoku who looked eighteen treat her like the ten-year-old she was when Yuuri and Wolfram had first adopted her. Young though she was, she understood that on average, Mazoku age about five times slower than humans, so that she'd be about thirty before Wolfram realizes that she is not a child anymore.

Wolfram knew that his daughter knows that he knows he shouldn't baby her like this, but he is pretending that he doesn't know that she knows and kept feeding her as if she were an infant, time and again even wiping off whatever managed to escape those red lips, so like those of Former Queen Cecilie's, Wolfram's mother. He reasoned to himself though that if she had been Mazoku instead of human, she would still have been an infant, alright, a toddler at thirteen. That and he knew she might not take to letting him do this for her in just a couple more years. It gave him a fright, that thought, and for a moment Wolfram's blood ran cold, so cold that he'd paled.

"Daddy? Is something wrong? Your hands are shaking…" Greta asked worriedly after having daintily dabbed off some of the mashed potato that stuck to a corner of her mouth because Wolfram had been fidgeting so much. "Honestly, Daddy… if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were ill!" And as if to emphasize her point, she'd even placed her hand on his cheek, as if she were checking whether he was running a fever or not.

Wolfram could not help but chuckle at Greta's choice of words. She was beginning to sound like him, and was that his brother Gwendal's scowl on her lips? And her eyes, sweet like rich chocolate but focused and keen like Conrad's. It almost broke Wolfram's heart that his adopted daughter is human. She had so much of his whole family in her.

Wolfram bit his lip and tried to smile as best he could. "No, princess, Daddy's not ill at all," Wolfram said reassuringly. "Are you done eating? Would you like me to ask Sangria to bring you more?"

Greta's brows knitted together, another Shin Makoku Royal Family trait. "No thank you, Daddy. But you really should start eating. You haven't touched a thing…" Greta said, and then she placed a hand on Wolfram's arm.

Wolfram considered his food. It was delectable-looking, but it seemed to him he'd lost his appetite. Still, he didn't want to be a bad example to his daughter so he started picking at his food, chewing it really slowly, but he gagged when he tried to swallow it. He felt the color rush down from his cheeks.

A soft knocking sound was then heard from the great wooden doors that separated the State Dining Hall from the kitchens.

"Hi honey!" Yuuri greeted Wolfram as he strode over to where his spouse and his daughter were, and without another word, he grabbed a spork from the place-mat and started eating out of Wolfram's plate. Wolfram was about to say "Leave it to you to knock in your own castle, you wimp!" but forgot when Yuuri kissed him with lips that tasted of gravy and steak.

"Nice of you to show up, wimp. I just finished feeding Greta. You should really be a better father, you know," Wolfram still managed to say.

"I am! I left your brothers and the task of running this country for a bit so I can have some quality time with my family, didn't I?" Yuuri said, playing his "cute" card by leaning his head on Wolfram's shoulder but still continued eating, "And how come you never feed me?" Yuuri asked after he'd swallowed the morsel he was chewing, him now being the picture of put-on innocence as he batted his eyelashes so shamelessly at Wolfram that Greta had started giggling. Her parents were each other's exact opposites – Yuuri with his onyx-colored eyes, sun-kissed skin and jet-black hair and yet contrasted Wolfram's bright good looks.

Wolfram's voice rose again. "Because you can feed yourself, wimp. You're not a child. Our little girl is though, in case you didn't notice," Wolfram said, his voice laced with venom. Wolfram then rolled his eyes and went on with his tirade. "But if you're really going to need me to help you, okay, I'll start spoon feeding you, too," Wolfram spat angrily at his husband. Inside though he was thanking Shinou because he would not have to force his food down his own throat – not when he could shove it down Yuuri's. "_Safe_!" as those "basic-ball emperors" liked to yell all the time. Wolfram smirked at the thought. And Yuuri thought he didn't care about Earth sports.

Greta bit her lip and had a worried expression on her face. Yuuri didn't miss it. "What is it, Greta?"

"Daddy didn't get any breakfast this morning and he seems a little pale, Papa," Greta began.

Yuuri chuckled. "Your Daddy's always been pale, Greta. It's one of the things I love most about him – his milky white skin that could give any water nymph a run for her money ---"

Wolfram gritted his teeth as but managed to grind these words past them, "You mean I am taking care of our daughter here and you go thinking about pale-skinned water-nymphs? I ought to flambé you, you cheater!" Wolfram cried before shoving the too-full spork into Yuuri's mouth, but still remembering to grab Yuuri's head by the crown and the chin in order to move the latter's jaws to grind the food. It wouldn't do for a king who was already famous for being called a wimp by his own Consort to die of choking now, would it? Wolfram reasoned to himself.

Yuuri just laughed (after he'd made sure his jaw hadn't detached). A year and a half of marriage certainly didn't change the jealous nature of his special someone, Yuuri thought, especially perhaps because that someone has been that way for eighty-four years. "Oh Wolfram, you're such a worry-wart!" Yuuri chortled. Then he stroked the now-flushing cheek and planted a kiss on Wolfram's lips.

Greta looked out the large bay windows and checked the garden outside which was planted to resemble a sundial. After discerning the time, Greta cleared her throat when the kiss her parents were sharing hadn't broken after what the timepiece outside said to be about ten minutes. One can't blame her for trying. She was only thirteen, after all, she thought. She could be spared this for _at least_ another couple of years. She shook her head and just smiled. These two could carry on like this for ages. Greta made a mental note to take notes when she got older. Much, _much _older. Kissing seemed so… _unsanitary_ to her young mind.

"Well, at least I know I won't be an only child," Greta said, still giggling as she closed the great doors of the State Dining Hall as softly as she could behind her.

Once outside, she saw Lord Weller panting.

"Where's the fire, Uncle Conrad?" Greta asked good-naturedly.

"King Yuuri said he wanted to get himself a snack and he hasn't come back, princess. Did you see him?" Lord Weller said, still a little winded.

Greta smiled. If her Uncle Conrad is winded, he must have searched all of Blood Pledge by now. Her uncle is at least one-hundred and twenty years old even though he looked like he's in his early twenties, and at least eighty of those years he'd spent in the army, training.

"They're inside, Uncle Conrad. Daddy and Papa, I mean. But I wouldn't walk in just now. Walk with me, would you please, Uncle Conrad?" Greta asked, smiling brightly up at her uncle. Uncle understood perfectly at once. Yuuri and Wolfram were notorious for their public displays of affection that it had become a national joke. To do a "Yuuri and Wolfram" was like saying "PDA" in the alternative world.

"If you'll give me your arm, princess," Conrad said, formally bowing to the little girl and offering his elbow for her to put her hand on.

Greta looked at Conrad in horror. Conrad's other arm was missing after he'd defended her father against marauders in human territory almost four years before.

Conrad bit his lip to keep from laughing at the little royal. "Princess, I meant to escort you. I am not asking you to trade your pretty little arm for a walk with your handsome Uncle Conrad," he teased.

"Of course, how silly of me. Let's go!" Greta said, laughing again.


	3. Page 3

Lord Gunter von Kreist from the vassal kingdom of Kreist looked into his basket of flowers and, when he was satisfied that the flowers are all arranged in the order of a proper spectrum, he left the palace gardens, his long white robes swishing gracefully around his ankles. He wanted to bring the flowers to decorate the King's study before the King shows up for his classes in political science and history.

King Yuuri's marriage to Lord Wolfram surely helped to secure the trust of the neighboring kingdoms of both demons and humans with regards to the stability of Shin Makoku, but Yuuri still had a lot to learn, Gunter thought to himself, absently walking back to the castle in his floating gait.

Gunter's beauty commanded the attention of both men and women, what with both the soldiers and all the maids gawking at him as he now passed them. Among all the members of the King's Council, Gunter was the only one who didn't wear a soldier's uniform, so that his appearance belied his excellence in horsemanship and swordplay.

It was peace time anyway, and Gunter never liked wars, which was why he loved Yuuri's sense of justice and disdain for conflict, a love he showed by showering the monarch with excessive praise whenever he did something, no – make that _anything_. He was yang to Wolfram's yin; he exalted Yuuri while Wolfram kept the king grounded with his constant critiquing. The thought brought tears to Gunter's eyes.

Yuuri was Wolfram's now for good. He would never ever stand a chance, especially not with the way the two seemed to live for each other and forgot everything and everyone around them when they were together.

Gunter made his way rather warily past swooning young maids and big strapping soldiers flexing their muscles in what they thought were subtle ways, dodging any attempts at contact. He was used to being ogled anyway. It was his curse, the scourge of all his three hundred years. Even the Council still caught their breaths whenever he walked into a room, even after all this time.

Gunter shook his head a little as he practically floated onto his seat at the round table and watched in subdued amusement as Gwendal had to clear his throat and adjust his yellow-gold cloak over his green pantsuit, a military issue from his home realm of Voltaire. Gunter observed that Gwendal and Conrart could have been wearing the same thing, but maybe Conrart's uniform's shade inclined more towards khaki than green…

"Gunter, you're staring," a rather flustered Gwendal said.

Gunter chuckled. "I'm sorry, Gwendal. I was merely thinking about how similar your uniform was to that of Conrart's, that's all," he commented, lovely lavender-colored eyes scrunching shut as he smiled widely.

Gwendal let out a small grunt of repugnance about the triviality of the subject and considered the basket of flowers on the table before him that Gunter had brought into the room.

"For His Majesty," Gunter volunteered, as if he'd read Gwendal's mind. "When he comes in to study with me later after Council," he dreamily added

Gwendal scowled and reached inside his pocket wherein he kept a small plush toy that he'd knitted just a few days before which he would tell anyone was a sheep, but would most likely be taken for a rat.

"Gwendal?"

Gwendal rolled his eyes.

Gunter rolled his eyes too. "I might as well be talking to a sword the way you're carrying on this conversation with me," Gunter joked.

Gwendal threw Morgif onto the table before the other man with yet another annoyed grunt, although this time Gwendal wore a small, almost imperceptible grin on his handsome face. The King had left for the kitchens earlier without his sword and it had been sitting in his place beside Gwendal, and the sword's unceasing moaning had been irritating him anyway. Now it was Gunter's turn to scowl.

The door to the study opened again and produced a widely-smiling Conrad with an equally-happy Princess Greta on his arm. The two looked like that fabled one-armed tin soldier and the ballerina from a story from the King's original world that Yuuri had read to them all once, "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Hans Andersen.

Gwendal chuckled when he remembered how much and how disgracefully Gunter had bawled then, and how cross Wolfram had been at Yuuri, calling the story "the wimpiest one of all time" even though Wolfram himself wasn't doing a good job hiding his tears. Gwendal then tuned back into the moment and bowed his head a little in acknowledgment of the pre-teen princess before settling with a level look at his younger brother Conrart.

Conrad just smiled as he was wont to do before seating his royal niece on his lap. Greta giggled, put her arms around Conrad's neck, and rested her head on his shoulder as both Gunter and Gwendal looked on approvingly. This was Council, but it was just family around, so that no protocol was necessary. Gunter was not related to them by blood, but his and their family had been friends for generations that one might call him extended family. They all understood that Conrart was just being Uncle Conrad right now. The princess would behave in propriety when the occasion for it called, but right now, she could sit anywhere she pleases, or any_one, _for that matter.

Conrad was just about to begin explaining where the King and the Royal Consort were when Gwendal shook his head and threw him a sharp glare, motioning with his head to Gunter who already had an ashen look on his face which was barely covered by his almost translucent lavender hair.

Conrad sighed in resignation and just resorted to hugging Greta instead, an embrace that the little girl happily returned and even exceeded with a few little kisses on her uncle's cheek.

Gwendal crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window. The list of titles could await consideration. For the time being, Morgif could hold it down for him. The stupid old sword was good for little more than being a paperweight anyway.


	4. Page 4

Yuuri woke up in his favorite way, all tangled up with Wolfram inside their suite. From outside, fresh air blew gently through the large bay windows and the breeze was what he thought had woken him up; that or the feel of Wolfram's forefinger drawing lazy circles on his hip; or it could also be the welcome weight of Wolfram's leg over his. Three times more today to add up to last night's five. "_Good grief! _Are we trying to set a record?"Yuuri thought, before his lips widened to a grin, and his coal-black eyes searched the emerald-green ones before him, preparing for what was sure to be…

"What are you looking at, wimp?" Wolfram spat, smacking Yuuri's bottom with the same hand whose thumb had teased him awake.

Yuuri shook his head and then said, "Here's looking at you, kid," grinning widely again.

Wolfram pouted and rolled his eyes. "You humans are _so _weird,"

"Only half, love, only half,"

Yuuri shrugged and said nothing, just continued to smile at his beloved. Then he remembered. He immediately sprang up and ran to the private baths that adjoined to their rooms, leaving a disgruntled Wolfram on the mattress glaring daggers at him.

Yuuri peeked from the door of the baths and cried desperately, "Greta, Wolfram! We forgot all about Greta! Was she still in the dining hall when I carried you up here!"

Wolfram was stunned. He always considered himself a good father, but now he supposed he was Yuuri's lover first and foremost. He ran after Yuuri and started washing up with him, making sure that they never got too close to each other. In minutes they were dressed, Yuuri in his usual all-black school uniform that doubled in Shin Makoku as royal garb and Wolfram in the blue military issue of Bielfeld country. Once in the study that doubled as Council Room, they found that Gwendal, Conrad, and Gunter were still there, but no discussions were being carried out. They were merely sitting there in silence, except for Conrad who kept fussing about Greta who was still seated on his knee.

Blushing profusely like the teenagers they were, both King and Consort started to babble about where they were, but their stories kept mismatching so that Gunter just paled more, Gwendal fisted his hands, and Conrad slowly stood up, asked the princess to seat herself on his arm and put her arms about his neck so he could carry her to her grandmother.

When the door closed and Conrad's footsteps could no longer be heard, Gwendal sprang to his feet and banged his fists on the table, frightening the recently-arrived monarch and his spouse. Yuuri started to explain,

"Gwendal, we're sorry. We—"

"WE DON'T NEED TO HEAR IT!" Gwendal barked, following the statement up with "Your Majesty," like the afterthought that it was.

"I—Wolfram and I --- we are –"

"Married and have every right to do whatever you please, but Your Majesty has a job to do, as does LORD VON BIELFELD," Gwendal hissed, emphasizing on the title he would address his little brother by when he did want to be familiar.

"We're sorry, okay? We're sorry!" Wolfram shot back, tears forming on the corners of his eyes now. His eldest brother was always gruff, but when he got angry, it was only for good reason.

Gwendal turned his back on both of them and bumped against them both as he strode toward the door. "Kings these days," Gwendal said under his breath before he slammed the door behind him.

Gunter got up quietly from his own seat and ran from the room so fast that neither of the two newcomers noticed that tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Wolfram stroked Yuuri's arm to comfort him as the young king seated himself at the table and covered his face with his hands.

Gwendal found Gunter in the garden, sobbing quietly under a cherry tree. His heart went out to the beautiful man but he couldn't bring himself to come any closer. He turned on his heel and was about to walk away when a "Please stay with me, Gwendal," stopped him in his tracks.

Gunter moved a bit to one side to allow Gwendal to sit beside him. The two did not speak for a long moment but, surprisingly enough, it was Gwendal who broke the silence.

"They've been married for almost two years and still they act like newlyweds. I don't think they will ever change, Gunter,"

"I know…"

Gwendal turned to him and spat, "Then why do you still bother!" then he turned away, hiked his knees up so he can put his arms around them and bury his face in the square of limbs he'd made. Inside that square of limbs, when he fancied Gunter wouldn't hear, he muttered, "when you have me…"

Gunter scooted close to Gwendal and leaned on him.

Inside the castle, Her Superior Majesty Former Demon Queen Cecilie von Spitzveg was having tea with Conrad and Greta. She was wearing a revealing number, as usual, and in tulle, too.

Cecilie is Conrad's, Gwendal's, and Wolfram's mother, and is the oldest demon or Mazoku in the castle, but she likes to sport her full, curvaceous body to every man she comes across, not the least of which were her own three boys. She would never do anything inappropriate and they all knew that, but she loved the attention. Like now, wherein she knew it was only Conrad's masculine instincts that were keeping his eyes on her bosom.

"Conrart, you look JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER DID when he first met me. Will I also need to tell you that my face is up here?" Cecile said in mock annoyance, swinging her blonde hair back (and, ironically, revealing even _more_ of her cleavage in the deeply cut and very sheer sundress). Her mane could have been spun from pure gold, Conrad thought, and decided that he really loved how his mother's hair is always in really big curls all around her that only emphasized how svelte and shapely she was.

While it may induce lust in any other man, in him, while he must say he admired her beauty, he would also be the first to say that this luscious vision before him was as motherly to him and his brothers as any apron-clad housewife might be to most others. Conrad had to clear his throat nonetheless and then he looked at his mother's face. Wolfram looks like her more and more each day, Conrad thought, and he smiled appreciatively at Greta when she put his cup of tea to his lips for him. Somehow the princess had taken a liking to sitting on his lap that day, and as she weighed next to nothing at all, he let her have her way. A pushover to Wolfram and now to Greta. This was becoming a pattern, he thought, but not one that he minded. Greta rewarded him for being her seat by planting another of her kisses on his cheek.

"You know, Conrart, you really should start thinking about starting a family of your own, instead of kidnapping your little brother's daughter all the time," Cecilie coquettishly commented.

Conrad sighed and just held Greta closer. "Yes mother," Conrad replied, smiling indulgently again.

"You're a sweet and sensitive man, and Greta is a very good judge of character. She wouldn't adore you as she does if she doesn't think you'd make a good father someday," Cecilie said.

Greta put her arms around her Uncle Conrad and leaned her head on her shoulder. "I don't want Uncle Conrad to marry…" she said, her breath almost a whisper.

"That's my girl!" Conrad happily agreed.

Cecilie took up her cup and sipped from it thoughtfully. Conrart was half-human, half-Mazoku, and he was already one-hundred and twenty years old. He was in the prime of his life and he certainly is not too young for marriage.

Cecilie looked Conrad straight in the eye. "Conrart Weller, I am no longer the sovereign queen of Shin Makoku but I am still your mother. I order you to get married! You have a full year. Don't make me have to make His Majesty tell you. I am his Consort's mother as well," Cecilie coyly added, at last putting down her cup. "Also, my sweet middle child, I want to be sure you'll be taken care of when I'm gone,"

Conrad bit his lip to keep from laughing and smiled his usual indulgent smile. His mother is a full Mazoku. Him outliving her is the last thing she needs to worry about.

"Yes mother,"

Greta turned to her grandmother. "Grandy, if he doesn't find someone, can I marry him instead?"


	5. Page 5

Wolfram and Yuuri were stunned at what they just heard. "YOU WHAT?" Yuuri and Wolfram both cried in terror, after which they seated themselves again slowly, holding hands like frightened children.

The whole Mazoku royal family was seated in the private dining room. They like being within earshot of each other so that they can discuss issues at mealtimes.

Lady Celi (that is, Former Queen Cecilie,) clapped her hands happily and then smiled at the dumbfounded parents of the thirteen-year-old girl who just announced that she will be marrying her Uncle Conrad when she comes of age in three years.

Wolfram gripped Yuuri's sleeve nervously, unable to speak. He looked into his husband's black eyes for the edification he couldn't very well provide for himself at that moment.

Yuuri placed a hand over Wolfram's, unable to believe this himself.

Gwendal cleared his throat, and then complimented the maids for the wonderful meal. Gunter looked in askance at the man to his right. He could not believe that Gwendal was being casual about this. This was Yuuri and Wolfram's daughter they were talking about!

"I think it's a WONDERFUL idea! Conrad is of royal blood, and I know he will take care of Greta!" Lady Celi piped happily.

Yuuri stood up and beckoned for Conrad to follow him. Wolfram stood up to follow but Yuuri motioned for him to stay with the rest of the family. Wolfram nodded and sat down.

Yuuri and Conrad walked companionably together in the halls toward's the king's library. Conrad opened the door for his king as usual. Once inside, Yuuri offered Conrad a seat in front of his desk where Yuuri still had stacks and stacks of documents to sign. Yuuri seated himself at his desk, moving a couple of stacks to the side so he could look at his godfather while he spoke to him.

Yuuri sighed and then breathed deeply, composing himself for the discussion ahead. He was embarrassed more than anything, really, but this meeting had to take place. It just had to.

Yuuri took another deep breath and began. "What happened, Conrad?"

Conrad shrugged, his eyes on the stacks of paper in front of him. "Mother gave me a year to get married,"

"SO YOU'RE MARRYING MY DAUGHTER?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like that!" Conrad cried in frustration.

Yuuri fisted his hands and swiveled his chair around to face the window behind him. "Conrad, what are your intentions?" Yuuri said very softly.

"I intend to marry Greta if she will have me once she's come of age," Conrad stated plainly.

Yuuri turned to look at Conrad once again. "And if she changes her mind?"

"Then at least she would have bought me more time. My deal with mother was that I only have a year to get myself a spouse. Greta comes of age in three years, and in those three years I will treat her no different than I have before," Conrad said plainly.

Yuuri turned the chair around and tried but couldn't read the expression on Conrad's face. What was the man thinking? "Conrad, if you are to marry my daughter, you need to start courting her properly. You cannot continue being her uncle and then become her husband without a proper transition. Look, Conrad, I trust you with my life. I would trust you with anything but –"

"Your daughter is off-limits?"

"It's not that. Greta is thirteen years old. I was eighteen when I married your brother. I wanted to be sure I knew what I was saying,"

"I understand,"

Yuuri stood up and held out his hand for his godfather to shake. "We'll discuss this at another time. I am still shocked, actually. I need time to form my thoughts properly. At least we got some things out of the way. Now let's go on back before the family starts to think we've gone to blows about this," Yuuri joked, but his laugh was weak, forced.

"Very well, Your Majesty," Conrad said, bowing deeply after the handshake.

This time, Yuuri didn't bother to correct him.

The royal family was in an uproar when they returned to the dining room. Yuuri ran towards the commotion, and saw that it was Wolfram who was in the center of all the fuss.

"What's going on? What happened to him?" Yuuri asked. He was beside himself with worry because Lady Celi, Greta, Lady Giesela von Kreist and Lady Anissina von Kopernikopf were all around his spouse, as if they suddenly found something in common with his decidedly male consort.

Lady Celi helped Wolfram up from his seat and turned him around so Yuuri could see the cause of all the ruckus. On Wolfram's rear was a spot of blood about three inches wide.

Yuuri immediately reached out for his spouse and held him.

"Are you alright? Did I… today, is this.. was I too…?"

Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's hands and then roughly held him away at arm's length. Wolfram's face had a very annoyed look. "You idiot, this just means I'm pregnant. Honestly, Yuuri, don't you know ANYTHING?"

At that, Yuuri fainted.

When Yuuri woke up, he was on a single bed in Lady Giesela von Kreist's clinic. She was Gunter's adopted daughter, and a very skilled healer.

"What happened to me?" Yuuri asked Giesela.

"You blacked out, your Majesty. I guess the prospect of fatherhood shocked you," Giesela replied cheerfully, her eyes scrunched shut as she smiled widely.

"I'd say," Yuuri answered. He scratched his head, and then broke out into a smile himself. "Huh? Fatherhood?" Then the memories of what happened at dinnertime came back to him.

Yuuri grabbed a sleeve of Giesela's white shirt. "Where's Wolfram? Is he okay? I need to see him!"

Giesela placed a comforting hand atop Yuuri's. "He's fine, Your Majesty. Lord von Bielfeld will be okay. He's just pregnant, is all,"

Yuuri lay back on the cushion at his back. "Pregnant…"

Giesela laughed. "Well, Your Majesty, it's only natural, especially with your and His Excellency's uh… enthusiasm,"

Yuuri turned to Giesela. "Can you please explain to me why it looked to me like Wolfram had a menstrual leakage? Where I came from, women stopped having their periods when they got pregnant. Why is Wolfram showing the opposite symptoms?" Yuuri's face had the look of genuine trepidation.

"And what of the men, sire?"

"The men --- never mind that, Giesela. All I am worried about is Wolfram. What will happen to him?" Yuuri asked.

Giesela held Yuuri's hand and sat at his bedside. "Very well, Your Majesty. His Excellency's bleeding right now because the baby inside him is making space for itself. It is basically carving out a home for itself inside your spouse for the next four years. Don't worry so much, sire. His Excellency will be fine, I promise!"

Yuuri smiled at the green-eyed, green-haired healer. She was Gunter's daughter alright. She surely possessed his unwavering optimism. But did she just say..?

"FOUR YEARS?" Yuuri cried. Then it made sense to him. Mazoku aged five times slower than humans. It only makes sense. "I think I'll lie down for a while nonetheless, Giesela,"


	6. Page 6

Yuuri woke up with a big bad bruise on his forehead. Bemused, he wondered how that could be when the last thing that he remembers was that he was lying on a bunk in Lady von Kreist's office. The floor made of the finest marble in the demons' world felt hard and cold against his back. The floor? Yuuri sat up and surely enough, his beautiful blonde angel of a spouse lay spread-eagled in the infirmary cot he was occupying, and there was blood all over the sheets. He would have cringed at the sight, but as his mind slowly awakened, he remembered what that blood meant, and he touched the stains, thinking to himself that his child inside Wolfram was doing this, and he smiled, still in awe of it, still blown away by it, so much so that he did not feel the warmth of the gaze he was under, as Wolfram had already awoken and understood what Yuuri was doing.

Wolfram lay flat on his stomach and leaned close to Yuuri's face, Wolfram's chin almost on the mattress as he'd wanted to look up into his husband's eyes.

"You know, that bruise brings out the color of your eyes," Wolfram ventured sheepishly, well aware that he was the cause of the unsightly blemish.

"Haha, very funny," Yuuri replied, playing at being annoyed. "Well, at least I can say I fell for you hard, and practically every morning,"

"Haha, very funny, Your Majesty," Wolfram countered.

Yuuri felt he could just burst with love for this man who was carrying his child. He was also quick to notice how for the most part, Wolfram had mellowed down a lot, so that he acted more like the angels he looked a lot alike.

"You're staring," Wolfram said, his cheeks flushed.

Yuuri got up from his uncomfortable place on the floor. "Move," he whispered into Wolfram's ear, his voice still husky from sleeping.

Wolfram looked doubtful. "There's not a lot of room up here,"

"It'll be fine. We fit together perfectly," Yuuri teased, grinning when Wolfram sensed the last sentence's double meaning and blushed yet again. It felt wonderful to him that he was the only person who could ever make the formidable Lord von Bielfeld redden like a schoolboy with his first crush even after almost two years.

Yuuri took the hand of Wolfram's that was nearest to him and laced their fingers together gently before he laid himself right beside the blonde prince, being very careful to not to let the other fall. Wolfram alone was worth everything in the world to Yuuri. Yuuri decided that the next four years would not be a good time for Wolfram to make good on his promise to fall with him.

Outside, Lady Anissina von Kopernikopf, the kingdom's foremost inventor and a rare beauty with red eyes and hair was about to step into the room when she saw that the royal couple had snuggled up together and were sleeping soundly. She had wanted to speak with Giesela about wanting to try out her new Magical Sleep Machine on the monarch but she just had to smile at the thought that while Yuuri will always get kicked off even a baseball-field-sized mattress by a soundly-sleeping Wolfram, Yuuri is also always ensured of a repose with his better half around.

Anissina laughed softly at something she realized thereafter. "Ho boy… at this rate, we'll be overrun by little royals in no time at all,"


	7. Page 7

Gwendal held out his hand outside the window to let the courier pigeon alight on his finger. As usual, the little creature's foot had a small piece of parchment tied to it securely but not too tightly with string. Gwendal untied the band, took the small slip of paper and then set the faithful bird onto a small but well-kept feeding station to let it help itself to various grains and fresh water. When he saw that the bird had started to eat and drink, Gwendal started reading the note. It said, "_We've found it, Your Excellency. His Majesty must set out at once."_

Giesela softly knocked on the door of the room Yuuri and Wolfram were staying in at the infirmary and it was Yuuri who opened the door. Wolfram was still asleep and Yuuri didn't have the heart to wake him because after all, the king thought, pregnant men needed their sleep, never mind how utterly ludicrous that sounded in Yuuri's Earth-bred mind.

"Giesela. Just the person I wanted to see," Yuuri said amiably to the green-haired healer before he closed the door as softly as he could behind him.

"Your Majesty, about -- " Giesela was cut off by a loud "Your Majesty!" from one of the young pages who served as messengers around the castle.

Yuuri smiled at the young boy and asked, "What is it?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Gwendal is asking to speak with you. About His Excellency Lord Wolfram. He says it's an emergency!" the poor page managed between drawings of breath, his voice hollow after having run so fast. He even had his hands on his knees and he was panting heavily.

Yuuri turned to Giesela but she only shook her head and gave him a small smile, telling him that whatever it was she was going to say, it could wait in favor of Gwendal's demands. If this was what she was hoping it was, the thing she feared that she wanted to talk about with Yuuri will be settled.

"I'll be right there," Yuuri said to the boy. "Excuse me, Giesela,"

"Of course, sire. I hope that Lord Gwendal brings good news," Giesela ventured.

Yuuri smiled wryly. "I do, too. Anything but a war I'll be fine with," Yuuri answered.

When Yuuri and the boy had left for Gwendal's office, Giesela whispered, "I hope so, Your Majesty. I certainly hope so."

Gwendal never paced. He was a very efficient man and it showed whether he was making allocations from the national budget, surveying land for roads and infrastructure, or knitting plushy (and horribly disfigured) animals out of yarn. He was not one to waste anything, most of all his movements. All too often Gwendal was appalled at how people seemed to waste their energy doing senseless things like… talking or gesturing. Gwendal _spoke_; he expressed himself. Gwendal _acted_; he didn't just move about. Which is why Gwendal never paced. Pacing wasn't productive -- it didn't stomp away the apprehension; it did absolutely nothing to ward off the dread and the excitement he was feeling; but now he did it anyway, walking to and fro behind his desk, waiting impatiently for Yuuri.

Yuuri opened the door, thanked the page before he excused him from his presence and smiled widely until Gwendal asked him to sit down. Yuuri noticed the brisk movements his brother-in-law were making but without another word he did as he was told. Something told Yuuri he will need to sit down after he hears what Gwendal was about to say.

Gwendal turned his back on Yuuri and placed his hands on the window sill, his eyes watching the courier pigeon as the bird washed off the dust of the long journey in the birdbath beside the feeding-station.

"You wanted to speak to me, Gwendal?" Yuuri asked.

"Your Majesty, it is no secret to you that we allow marriages between people of the same gender in this world,"

Yuuri smiled, baffled. Gwendal was not going to tell him that the societal structure just turned on a dime and that his marriage to Wolfram was null and void now, was he? Yuuri clenched his fists. Intimidated or not, he was not going to let anyone come between him and Wolfram. Not now, not ever. In his head, Yuuri was already planning to take Wolfram to his original world. They would brave anything society had to say. They would –

"Have you also noticed that there aren't too many of them around?" Gwendal finished.

Huh? Yuuri thought. There really were not a lot of couples like him and Wolfram that he'd seen who were married and happy like they were. Wait. He'd NEVER met any other couples like himself and Wolfram. So? What did that have anything to do with anything? Was Gwendal telling him now that they were just more open-minded about that but that most people preferred to be heterosexual anyway? Where was this discussion going?

"What happened to them then?" Yuuri asked. He was of course concerned now. If anyone was a both-male couple here, he and Wolfram certainly were, and they were ruling the country!

Gwendal turned to him and looked him straight in the eye. "Your Majesty, do you want your baby?"

Yuuri's anger flared. Gwendal surely wasn't planning to put his baby, a _royal one_ no less, up for adoption, was he?

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I want to have a baby with Wolfram? Have you finally SNAPPED?" Yuuri roared, his face flushed with rage.

Yuuri readied himself for a brutal confrontation but he got none, and his face took on a bewildered look.

Gwendal cleared his throat. "It's good that you want your baby, Your Majesty, because I'd like you to remember that all the time during the journey you will be on to find it a soul."


	8. Page 8

That night, Yuuri skipped supper and went directly to his study. He would at least finish all his paperwork before the quest. It was what a good, responsible king would do, and a good, responsible king was what Yuuri Shibuya was.

He wanted to make sure he left the nation's affairs in proper order. The thought sent shivers down his spine. Didn't dying people "set their affairs in proper order"? Gwendal had said that the mission would be dangerous. Many men have failed and never returned. Many pregnant male spouses have been left widowers and worst of all, the babies were born without souls and knew not happiness or sadness or any other emotion. They became mere shells of Mazoku, and didn't grow into adulthood because the life force in them ebbed quickly after birth.

Yuuri worked furiously and lost himself in his job for a while. He would at least be productive while he brooded. His kingdom and his family depended on it.

"Yuuri," Wolfram called softly. He brought his very hardworking husband a cup of piping-hot green tea and some _daifuku mochi_ to snack on because the little sweet treats are supposed to be a good luck charm for whoever ate them. He'd even made the little rice cakes stuffed with sweet red bean paste made from azuki beans from the other world himself, shaping the buns to look like peaches and even going so far as to paint them by hand to exactly resemble the fruits. He did it so well too that whenever peaches were in season, royal family members put Wolfram's mochi in fruit bowls together with the real things for fun, not that whoever mistook one for a peach would be disappointed. Wolfram made mean mochi.

Since marriage, Wolfram had learned a lot of recipes from his mother-in-law Miko whenever he and Yuuri visited Earth and Wolfram learned how to make a lot of Japanese sweets as well as main dishes. For some reason, Wolfram thought it would be good to have the knowledge. Besides, he was a fire demon, and his power to control flames always came in handy, especially with things that tended to be overcooked like _shabu-shabu _hotpot which Yuuri liked in the winter or things that easily got burnt like _yakitori_ barbecued chicken which they all liked to eat in the summer.

Even Greta had been happy with Wolfram's new hobby and played little helper, politely asking the maids to leave so that she could assist Wolfram when the blonde knight felt like making things in the kitchen. It was fun for her to eat things she helped make; that and anything was better than watching her Daddy paint with that awful-smelling bearbee-shit paint. Simply put, both Royal Consort and Princess became amazing cooks. Somehow though, the aroma of Wolfram's mochi did not seem to pique the Maou's interest, at least not at the moment, even though they were still warm and very fragrant.

Yuuri was sitting at his desk clearing his backlog. He had at least a hundred thousand documents to sign, ranging in importance from bilateral agreements and treaties with other kingdoms to vouchers for things charged to the castle -- a kind of IOU with Blood Pledge Castle's coat-of-arms on it. He had stacks and stacks of papers to read thoroughly and mark with his personal seal and the castle's royal insignia.

Yuuri carefully read everything he signed, lest Gwendal snuck in some order to attack some unsuspecting principality or kingdom and spark a war. Nah. Gwendal wouldn't do that. He couldn't. Not while Yuuri Shibuya was sovereign king. He would never let anything so horrible as war ruin his child's future. Now way, no how, not ever.

"Yuuri…" Wolfram called again.

Yuuri still didn't budge.

"YUURI!" Wolfram yelled.

Yuuri looked up from his work and blinked at Wolfram a couple of times, his sunken jet-black colored eyes visibly betraying his weariness.

Wolfram's previously confrontational expression softened, and he set the tray laden with all the goodies on the desk by his king's elbow and was about to turn to leave but he was instantly pulled down into a hug, so that he was sitting on Yuuri's lap and was straddling him, and Yuuri's arms were wrapped tightly around his waist. Wolfram put his arms around Yuuri's shoulders and clutched Yuuri's head against his chest, resting the king's head beneath his chin. They held each other like that for a while, Yuuri listening to his spouse's heartbeat and feeling the warmth of Wolfram's breath against his ear. Suddenly curious, Yuuri put his palm against Wolfram's still-flat belly. It would be a long, long time before he would change there, but the knowledge that he even would made Yuuri felt he was pressed for time.

Wolfram's honey scent made Yuuri want to taste Wolfram's skin at his neck, and his little kisses trailed upward, spurred on by Wolfram's moans and gasps of Yuuri's name until the king at last silenced their source with a kiss.

"Love… you… forever… Wolfram…" Yuuri said between kisses, each one more scorching to the blonde-haired knight than the last.

In an instant, Wolfram's body was on fire. He brought his legs up and around Yuuri's waist, and he rubbed himself against his husband, his hardness pressed against Yuuri's stomach.

"Oh gods," Yuuri mouthed, even as he kissed and stroked every part of Wolfram within his reach.

Wolfram bit his lip to stifle a cry and failed miserably. "Yuuri!" he cried, before meshing their lips together again in a deep kiss that lasted several minutes. When they came up for air, Wolfram could only demand, "Bedroom!" And Yuuri was helpless to do anything but comply.

_**Sayo's note**: Yuuri he was nineteen years old (as of storyline time) and officially a Japanese adult, and like all Japanese adults, he has a personal seal that is his legal signature. The seal bears his name written in Chinese characters called "kanji", and Japanese characters or "furugana" or "hiragana" in places to denote how the Chinese characters are to be read in Japanese._


	9. Page 9

Dressed in pajamas, Greta sat on her grandmother's couch, brooding as she watched Lady Celi brushing her big blonde curls and taking off her makeup to reveal flawless pale skin that rivaled mother-of-pearl and contrasted the former queen's sheer black teddy. Fascinated, the little girl just kept watching her grandmother, awed by the seemingly ritualistic goings-on as the sexy matriarch of the royal family prepared herself for bed.

"You truly are the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, Grandy, and I mean that with all my heart," Greta said, walking over towards her grandmother and kissing her cheek.

"Nonsense, Greta. YOU are the most beautiful. You're my granddaughter, after all," Lady Celi said, her eyes still beaming at the compliment she'd just been paid.

Greta gave her a sad smile. "Grandy, what if… Daddy… gets a little girl?"

Oh, so that's it, Lady Celi thought as she held out her arms and hugged her granddaughter to her bosom, being careful not to crush her.

"Is that why you wanted to sleep beside me tonight?" Celi inquired.

Greta shook her head and laughed lightly. "Not at all. Papa's leaving on a quest to find a soul for my little brother or sister, so I imagine that he and Daddy… well, you know how Daddy and Papa are," Greta teased.

"Yes, I know! Utterly shameless!" Lady Celi laughed deliciously, her hand over her small mouth. "They seem to forget everything when they're together. Isn't that romantic?"

Greta nodded. "Yes, Grandy…"

Celi's face then took on a serious expression. "I understand why you chose to promise yourself to your Uncle Conrart now,"

Greta blushed. "You do? Why?" Greta's hands felt cold, but her cheek, face, and neck felt very very warm.

"I have seen it coming for a long time. Your parents are quite often too intoxicated with each other, that you get pushed aside. You know that Conrart would never waver like they do once you win his undying love," Lady Celi said sagely.

Greta was silent.

Lady Celi held her granddaughter in her arms and kissed the top of her head, and then rocked Greta in her arms like the little girl she was.

Greta put her arms around her grandmother's slim waist and squeezed back affectionately. "I'm being selfish then?"

Lady Celi laughed in her carefree, coy way. "Not at all. If you call that being selfish, then you can call Grandy Gorgeous a selfish woman as well, what with your three grandfathers in my past!"

Then Celi turned serious. "I just hope you know what you are doing," Celi added, her maternal instincts kicking in again.

"Uncle Conrad… Grandy, would it do to tell you that I have always loved Uncle Conrad?"

Curious, Celi looked at her granddaughter.

"You might be confusing that with paternal love, Greta. There's that possibility,"

"No, Grandy. I love Yuuri and Wolfram that way. But I… I want to be there for Uncle Conrad. I want to take care of him, be there for him. He takes care of everyone, but he doesn't have anyone who's just his, you know? I'd like to be that person," Greta said, resolve clear in her voice, young as she was.

"You've always felt this way?"

Tears started forming in the corners of Greta's eyes and then coursed down her cheeks. "And even more so since you ordered him to get married. He never even thought of himself and just said yes to you. He's always thinking of other people. He's even lost his arm for Papa and Papa tells me Uncle Conrad said it was okay! I couldn't bear it if anyone hurt Con—Uncle Conrad!"

Lady Celi held her granddaughter tighter, loving her now more than ever before. She realized that Greta would be good for Conrad like this; Conrad being a hundred and twenty, and two-thirds into his life, Greta would be in the full bloom of womanhood in three years just in time, ready for him.

"You have my full support, Greta. You have my full support," Celi cooed to her granddaughter, calming her as she cried herself to sleep in her Grandy's arms.


	10. Page 10

Conrad walked over to the breakfast nook in the kitchens where his big brother and their former teacher Gunter were having coffee. Conrad was carrying chocolate-chip cookies and milk on a tray for himself and the two other men for their midnight snack, no mean feat, considering he only had one arm.

"Some mess Wolfram made, huh? He's great with Japanese sweets but he makes a mess big enough to warrant calamity funding!" Conrad joked.

Gwendal had an almost imperceptible grin on his face.

Gunter crossed his arms and looked positively annoyed. "I know he is your brother, Conrad, but we also need to remember protocol. Lord Wolfram von Bielfeld is His Majesty's Consort now, and don't you forget it!" he warned.

Conrad shrugged and smiled agreeably at his friend and at his big brother. Their baby brother would always be their baby brother -- fiery and passionate like a wild fire, and sometimes, apparently, just as destructive.

Gwendal spoke. "You and Yuuri have made an agreement, Conrad?"

Conrad nodded slowly. He knew this topic would come up some time.

"Why?" Gwendal asked. He knew he wouldn't need to say more, so he didn't.

"I..."

"She's ten times younger than you," Gwendal scoffed. "If you'd been a full human, She could have been your great-great granddaughter twice removed," Gwendal declared with a smirk.

Gunter threw Gwendal a sharp look. "I thought we'd gone over this bullying issue of yours ninety-three years ago, Gwendal,"

Gwendal gave Gunter a cold sidelong glance. "You're not my tutor anymore, Lord von Kreist,"

Gunter stood up, a sad look on his face. "True. And it looks like I was not a very good one. Excuse me, gentlemen. Good night," he said, after which he stalked to the door, and in moments his form was cloaked by the shadows of the halls.

"Nice going, Gwen," Conrad said, his hand on Gwendal's shoulder. "Yuuri and I will work out something. It's not like –"

Gwendal buried his face in his hands. "Like this, you mean?"

Conrad raised an eyebrow, but stayed quiet and chose to listen as Gwendal continued:

" I know. I don't know why… he should know by now that I have loved him all my life and I want to tell him that, but my reputation precedes me. What's worse is that even _I_ start to believe that I'm a cold person because people expect it from me," he said, his voice tapering to almost-inaudibility.

"So that you end up being mean even to him?" Conrad asked. He didn't mean to pry, but it looked like his big brother needed someone to talk to. Besides, it's grill or be grilled, and Conrad would rather not broil.

Gwendal broke down finally. "ESPECIALLY TO HIM! My efforts to show him I'm "the tough one" around here is making me look like "the jerk"!" his voice choked in his silent sobs.

Conrad blew his bangs out of his eyes and muttered, "And I thought _I _had issues," setting down the tray and rubbing his big brother's back to comfort him. Cookies and milk will have to wait for later.

It was only three in the morning, but already Doria, Sangria, and Lasagna busied themselves in the stables packing the horses down with provisions for the Demon King's journey when they heard a voice call them out by name into the yard.

"Good morning, Celi!" They brightly chimed in unison at a big white ball of light that shone just above their heads in the yard. When their employer meets them like this, something's DEFINITELY cooking and it's always juicy!

"Good morning, Angels! I have a mission for you," the voice from the ball of light said.


	11. Page 11

On the morning of Yuuri's departure, Wolfram finished buttoning up Yuuri's black coat, after which he brushed off invisible things that may be clinging to it.

"You're jealous of the dust on my coat?" Yuuri chortled.

"You bet. I'm even jealous of the sun that warms you," Wolfram said dejectedly, his hands stopping so he could put his arms about his husband's neck and lookinto his Yuuri's ink-black eyes.

"Now you're just being silly," Yuuri replied, laughing softly. "You ARE the sun, Wolfram! I mean, just look at you! You light up my world with those _incomparable _green eyes," Yuuri said, his fingers tracing Wolfram's brow, the end of which he punctuated gently with a kiss.

Yuuri whispered into Wolfram's ear, "I don't know how you don't know this, but you are _everything _to me," as his hand cupped Wolfram's cheek and pressed his forehead to his spouse's and then rubbed their noses together like the Eskimos of Earth do for a kiss. He was going to miss this; he was going to miss Wolfram.

Wolfram bit his lip and looked up to Yuuri with imploring eyes. "Come back to me, Yuuri… I don't care if you come back triumphant. I just want you back alive. I love you more than anything, more than anyone—"

"I will come back, for _both_ of you," Yuuri said as he placed his hand on Wolfram's belly. "This is my heir, and I WILL bring back the perfect soul. We will get through this, all four of us," Yuuri said as he held Wolfram to himself.

A soft knocking sound on their door was then heard, and Yuuri opened it. Outside was Conrad. "It's time, Your Majesty,"

"Okay," Yuuri replied. He then turned to Wolfram who sat down on the chaise looking disconsolate, wringing a section of his pink nightgown, as if to tear it to shreds.

"I'm going now, babe," Yuuri said as he knelt in front of his spouse, took Wolfram's hands in his own and kissed them, one fingertip at a time, and then the backs of Wolfram's hands. "I think I need not tell you I'll be missing you, babe,"

Wolfram kept silent, not trusting himself to speak. But he captured Yuuri's lips with his own and allowed themselves one long last kiss goodbye. When they broke apart, they were both crying and wiping away each other's tears and laughing ironically at their situation.

"Your Majesty, we need to go. The sooner you find it, the sooner you can return to your family," Conrad urged.

Yuuri sighed when he finally let Wolfram's hands go to silently walk towards Conrad, who closed the door behind them after having bowed to Wolfram.

When the door closed, Wolfram went to his dresser and changed into military garb. From today until Yuuri's return, he would rule as King Regent, holding the crown in trust for his husband who was going out into the dangerous world to help make their dream of a baby come true.

As Wolfram faced his reflection on his mirror, he fancied that his belly might have gotten just a bit bigger. He pulled out the shirt he'd just tucked in and turned to his side, looking this way and that, hoping to see the least bit of a change. He'd already stopped bleeding for the month, so other than the memory of last month to remind him he was with child, there was no other indication.

Wolfram put his hand against his bare belly, and surely enough, his palm glowed in response to the little life within. Fascinated, he kept running his palm all over it, thrilled at this new discovery.

Wolfram ran out the door and chased Yuuri down the hall. When he got to his husband, he said, "Put your palm against me, Yuuri! Please! For just a second!" Wolfram pleaded, but there was a happy note in his voice.

Thinking it must be about the baby, Yuuri smiled widely and did as he was told. Conrad just smiled as was usual as the parents marveled at how the baby was making Yuuri's palm shoot up tiny fountains. It was a special moment for them. No one but a Mazoku baby's true parents would be to get any such responses.

"It's really there, isn't it?" Yuuri said excitedly to Wolfram, who nodded in agreement. Yuuri then turned to Conrad and said, "Let's go! I want to hurry home to more of this!"

"Of course, Your Majesty. Wolfram, excuse us," Conrad said, bowing deeply.

Wolfram nodded and smiled brightly at his elder brother. Yuuri had already sprinted out the door. This is not goodbye. This is "see you later".

The entire family was at the stables waiting when Yuuri got there. Celi crushed her son-in-law against her bosom until the King begged for breath, Gisela handed him a magical first aid kit, Anissina gave him an assortment of gadgets that he couldn't refuse out of politeness, Gunter was bawling and couldn't say anything even remotely coherent so he just hid behind Gwendal, and Gwendal, who was holding Morgif with just his thumb and his forefinger like he was disgusted (which he was), handed the old moaner to Yuuri, sheathed and safe to hold.

All that done, Yuuri skillfully mounted Aoi, and rode out of the castle grounds through the back gate. The populace was not to know that he'd left until news about Wolfram expecting reached them a few weeks later. It was then that the whole kingdom started praying that their young, wise, and good king would return to them safe and sound, as in this world, soul-searching was not a harmless occupation.


	12. Page 12

Yuuri's first stop was a city-state due south of Shin Makoku's border, the Principality of Qandar. It took Yuuri a week's journey to get there, and he was in for a shock when the treatment he got was far from warm.

Everywhere that Yuuri went, townspeople whispered at his back, saying that he was just another high-browed prince who knew nothing but vanity. This disappointed Yuuri, as back in his kingdom, his people genuinely liked him and greeted him cordially when he inspected his realm and made sure everybody was faring well.

In Qandar though, he got no hospitality. Not even the bartender he bought a glass of milk from gave him the time of day. Not even his irresistible smiles and hello's got him any sort of welcome. Heck, even the ladies ran away, gossiping vehemently, and even within earshot of him.

"Well, at least Wolfram would like my being here," Yuuri joked to himself to try to ease the frustration he was feeling. How was he going to find this Wahrheit person if there was no one he could ask? The only information he got from Gwendal about this supposedly "all-seeing" person was that he lived in this city.

Yuuri sulked in his stool at the bar. It was already getting dark outside and the first of three moons was out, her face smiling gently at the world and cloaking everything in silver. Yuuri wondered if Wolfram was looking at the same moon, or if it was a different side of it that he saw.

Then he caught himself, shook the sadness off and started. Like Conrad said, the sooner he found the soul, the sooner he can go home. Pining for his spouse would just not do at the moment. He at least had to get a move on first.

Yuuri downed his milk like a man and got off his stool. He'd asked everyone he came across if they knew an all-seeing person but they all either chose to ignore him or deliberately avoided him; he was not really sure. All he knew was that he would try again. When Yuuri decided something, he threw himself into it, especially if his family depended on it. From baseball kid to family man, Yuuri's transition was seamless.

Just as Yuuri was about to get up, a young boy stopped in front of his seat and blocked his path. The boy had short red hair, brown eyes, a heart-shaped face and wore a peasant's clothes so that he looked ordinary enough, but he was the first person who smiled at Yuuri all day, and it was like an oasis for the young monarch who'd been laid weary by the bitter treatment he'd been getting all day from all the townspeople.

"Can I help you?" Yuuri asked the boy.

The boy smiled and shook his head then answered. "No, Your Majesty, but I can help you," he cheerfully said.

"Help me?" Yuuri said, now curious. All day people have been shirking away from him. Why was this young man so eager to help?

"Yes, Your Majesty. I am a page from Blood Pledge Castle, sire. I was sent here to deliver you a message from Her Superior Majesty, Former Queen Cecilie von Spitzveg," the lad replied, after which he produced Cecilie's seal, a golden pendant studded with jewels that formed Cecilie's coat-of-arms: on the gold medallion a plain white shield in ivory with three jeweled flowers on it – a yellow Beautiful Wolfram, a red Conrad Stands Upon the Earth and a green-and-grey Secret Gwendal. This kid is the real deal, Yuuri thought.

The next second, all the color drained from Yuuri's face. His mother-in-law never interfered with affairs of state after her abdication more than a hundred years ago. This could only mean that someone in the family was in trouble, and at the moment, the only vulnerable member he could think of was Wolfram. Yuuri sprang up at once. Wolfram and their baby… he could be --

A firm but gentle grasp stopped Yuuri in his tracks.

"Where are you going, sire?" the boy asked.

Yuuri was almost beside himself with worry. "Wolfram! I need to get back to Wolfram! I—"

A sound backhand slap put Yuuri back in the moment. Backhand slaps were wake-up calls in demon custom, unlike the open-palm slaps used in marriage proposals.

When Yuuri came to, the boy was bowing repeatedly before him, asking him for forgiveness. It was not improper or anything, but it looked really, shall we say _strange_ from the angle most people could see them from. _Then _it looked very improper indeed.

"Sir I—"

Surely enough, people in the bar stared at the two of them, so Yuuri had no choice but to hurriedly ask the bartender for a room. The bartender, looking thoroughly annoyed, motioned with his head to the single loft upstairs of the bar to which Yuuri dragged the young man so fast the latter could not even protest.

"_Mazoku nobles are such lustful creatures_," was the last thing Yuuri heard when he shut the door. Well, he couldn't help their gossiping right now. When he turned to the messenger, the young king forced himself to smile.

The boy at last realized his blunder and turned a deep shade of red. "My liege, I apologize, I—"

Yuuri laughed. "It's perfectly fine. I'm kind of used to being misunderstood by now," Yuuri answered good-naturedly, if a little dryly.

The boy squared his shoulders and stood in attention as he started to report, "Sire, I am directly in Queen Cecilie's service, but the news that I bring from you is from Shin Makoku Intelligence under Lord Gwendal von Voltaire," he began.

The boy then seemed to struggle with his next statements. "I understand that you are in search of your and Lord Wolfram's child's soul. Directions to where it can be found can only be gained from a man named Warheit Sagen who lives in the very heart of this city," the boy said.

Finally! A lead! Yuuri's heart jumped for joy.

"That's great! That should be easy enough then! From the looks of things we should be very near the center of this town!" Yuuri exclaimed.

The messenger looked thoughtful. "There's a bit more to it, sire. Wahrheit Sagen resides in the center of Shinzo Ningen territory,"

Yuuri saw no problem in that. "So..?"

"--and the Shinzo Ningen are the most dangerous group of humans known to demonkind,"

"Oh," Yuuri flatly said.

Somehow, Yuuri saw that curveball coming. Nobody said it would be easy. Even Wolfram told him he might not get out of this alive.

Yuuri gestured for the boy to sit on the small room's lone chair at the dressing-table while he seated himself on the bunk. "Please tell me more about the Shinzo Ningen, lad," Yuuri entreated.

"The Shinzo Ningen are reclusive and are said to live by a law even more ancient than the demon race. It was even rumored that they are not of this world, and no demon ever went near them in a thousand years,"

Yuuri was confounded. "But why?"

"They have a different kind of anti-demon charm that Mazoku are loathe to speak about. It is said that the anti-demon charms they used not only weakened but killed Mazoku,"

Yuuri shifted in his seat, suddenly uneasy, but he decided to probe further. "And what of Wahrheit Sagen? Is he not Mazoku? Gwendal told me that he's more than a thousand years old,"

The boy exhaled nervously and continued, "It is said that Warheit Sagen is immortal, Your Majesty."

_**Sayo's note: **"Wahrheit Sagen" means, quite literally, "truth telling" in German._


	13. Page 13

"_Sixty-four_ hall sentinels, _seven hundred and twenty_ patrol guards on the grounds plus a whole _garrison_ of soldiers in the barracks who are all under your _direct_ command and you mean to tell me that my _innocent_ thirteen-year-old daughter skirted _all of you_? **_Get out of my sight before I burn you alive_**!" Wolfram angrily roared at Dorcas, the head of Blood Pledge Castle's palace guard.

"Well, she _is_ your daughter, Your Majesty," Dorcas replied sheepishly, sweat forming beads on his brow and all over his bald head, so that he looked a bit pathetic in spite of his smart Shin Makoku military-issued uniform.

"At any other time I would have thanked you for saying that, but right now –"

"I'll look for her myself," Conrad interjected for Dorcas.

"Meanwhile, Your Majesty," Conrad addressed Wolfram; "Do we send word out to King Yuuri about the princess being missing? He should know."

"**_NO_**!" Wolfram bellowed at Conrad, his eyes flaring. Then he looked away, his expression having changed to that of pensiveness. "My husband has enough to think about as it is," Wolfram absently stated, his hand on his belly that had grown but half an inch more around since the family found out he was pregnant. At that time he was already two months pregnant, and now Yuuri had left for almost two weeks.

Gwendal fisted his free hand on the table while the one in his pocket squished a plushy of a puppy which looked more like a shark. "When did Greta leave?" Gwendal impatiently asked Dorcas, who was already shaking with fear of the King Regent and the Council.

"I -- I'm not sure, Your Excellency. A-All indicators say that she might have left the same day as King Yuuri," Dorcas answered.

"No, that can't be," snapped Gwendal, his hand holding his saber in what could have been an asphyxiating grip. "We eat our meals together as a family. Someone would have noticed she was gone,"

Dorcas became thoughtful. "But sir, if you recall, after King Yuuri's departure the Princess and Her Superior Majesty have been taking their suppers together in Her Foxy Highness' suite,"

"**_HER FOXY HIGHNESS_**?" The three brothers cried, their eyes glowering menacingly at the head of security.

Dorcas sweat-dropped again. "Well, sirs, it _is_ the only thing your mother lets me call her at any rate,"

The brothers sat back and collectively breathed a long-suffering sigh. It was completely like their mother to ingratiate such a thing.

A couple of weeks' journey south from the castle, Yuuri and the page were on a gallop to the center of Shinzo Ningen territory. "You never did tell me your name," Yuuri said to his traveling companion, the page from Blood Pledge Castle.

"G—Glenn, sire," the boy stammered, his cheeks blushing pink.

"Glenn," Yuuri mouthed. "That's a really interesting name. 'Means "meadow" right? I have a daughter – well, you know about her already, my little Princess Greta? In human years, she's as old as you are. But you're demon tribe, so you're probably about eight times as old as I am," Yuuri babbled good-naturedly.

"Probably, sire," the page answered, smiling and leaning forwards onto Yuuri's back.

They have been traveling almost non-stop for three days on horseback, the page riding behind Yuuri. Qandar was a city-state and one would have expected it to be compact, but as it turned out, the city proper was separated from the inner settlement of the Shinzo Ningen that ruled it by what one might only be able to call a vast wasteland. It was this barren region that they were traveling through.

"Look out for pandas, sire," the page said, arms tightening around the young monarch's waist.

"Don't worry. I learned about a lot about traveling through deserts from my consort," Yuuri replied, his smile now a bit wistful. "You know Glenn, somehow, your grip reminds me of his," Yuuri commented, his lips widening into a smile at the thought of Wolfram.

"Oh? How so, my liege?" the boy asked.

"Oh, nothing… I guess everything reminds me of Wolfram. Even the yellow color of the sand reminds me of his hair," Yuuri replied sadly.

The boy held Yuuri tighter. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. We'll find what you're looking for. We'll be able to go home soon,"

"Yeah!" Yuuri cried happily, at the same time spurring Aoi to gallop faster.

Queen Cecilie was having tea when the Council of brothers entered her suite to ask her about the missing princess' whereabouts.

"Missing? Since when?" Celi asked.

"The guards tell us that she'd been spending a lot of time here so we never took any notice of the princess not dining with us," Conrad answered.

In a rare moment of fury the ex-ruler answered, "That's the trouble with you all! A young girl is not supposed to be left to her own devices to understand what the world is about!" she scolded.

The three brothers were floored. Why the sudden vehemence?

Having thus vented, the former queen took charge at last, surprising her sons even more. "Conrad, if you are not already going of your own volition, as your mother I am ordering you to go out and search for your fiancé!

"My fi--"Conrad mouthed, astounded. His lips opened and shut repeatedly thereafter like that of a banked goldfish.

She then turned to Gwendal, whose mouth was still gaping. "Gwendal, if you haven't yet, order dispatches to be sent all across the kingdom – plainclothes ones, mind you – to look for her! Wolfram –"

Wolfram leaned in expectantly. "Bring your sexy Mommy some more tea, would you, dear?"

All three brothers fell over in their places.

Celi pouted and then started scolding them again. "I'm not done yet! After which I would like you to send word to Yuuri –"

"Mother, no!" Wolfram cried. "Anything but that! Any distractions –"

"Wolfram, your daughter is not a distraction! She is a living, breathing person who, for the life of all of us, could be hurt right now! Yuuri deserves to know this! Besides, it's about time you two started to think of yourselves as a family instead of just a couple!"

"Mother I –"

"No buts! For two years I have watched silently as Greta took second place to your romance with Yuuri. Now that she is missing, I expect you to be her parent!" Celi admonished.

Wolfram was stunned. When he regained his composure he said, "Yes, mother."


	14. Page 14

"This will be a perilous quest, Your Majesty. Please be reasonable! One platoon won't call a lot of attention! Besides, you've never gone unescorted anywhere in the kingdom before!" Gwendal argued. He doesn't show it too often, but he's taken a liking to his royal brother-in-law.

"Exactly," Yuuri calmly answered. "I'm going to be _outside_ the kingdom's borders looking for my heir's soul. The last thing I want is for other rulers to think I'm invading their turf. We've worked too hard for peace," Yuuri reasoned.

Gwendal nodded slowly, his arms crossed over his chest. Even he couldn't argue the soundness of that logic. But he would not back down so easily. Shin Makoku depended a lot on Yuuri staying alive to stay as it is. So he did what he needed to do. He threw Conrad into the fray by signaling to him with a cold, imperative look.

Conrad took his cue flawlessly. He and Gwendal have been a great debate tag team for decades. "A small group at least, Your Majesty. Just me and a few bodyguards to make sure you won't get in any danger," Conrad interjected.

Yuuri smiled amiably at his brothers-in-law. "I'll be fine. Besides, I will take Morgif with me,"

"A fat lot of good that will do you, wimp!" said Wolfram said, beads of perspiration dotting his forehead. The room was cool enough what with the windows open, but Wolfram was having hot flashes from his pregnancy.

Yuuri turned to Wolfram and affectionately fanned his consort with a few of the documents on the table to help make him comfortable. "Dearest, I love you, but I've made my decision. I'm going it alone," Yuuri said. "I can't let anybody else get hurt for this. It's not even a national security issue!"

Wolfram turned away from Yuuri violently and crossed his arms across his chest, pouting like a spoiled child. "It is TOO a national security issue! The safety of the KING is a national security issue! You're such a big idiotic WIMP for not recognizing that!" Wolfram cried, after which he fled the room in tears. Everyone knew where Wolfram was going – to the kitchens to make sweets. Somehow making mochi made him cool down reasonably.

Yuuri woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the fire's crackling. He and his new Man Friday were encamped in an oasis just a few last miles from the Shinzo Ningen settlement and it seems he was having a dream about his last Council Meeting before he left Shin Makoku. Yuuri shrugged his shoulders in resignation, sat up and just manned the fire.

He'd built himself and his young friend a respectable tent which proved sturdy enough in the desert wind. Wolfram would have been proud, Yuuri thought wistfully. But the fire was starting to die out and needed stoking, so Yuuri got Morgif out and poked at the embers with him.

Understandably, old moaner wasn't too pleased with the idea, but kept his thoughts to himself, lest Yuuri keep him in a box instead of at his side, sheathed. How then would he be able to see if there were any young girls about?

Yuuri squared his shoulders and stared into the flames and watched as the tongues of fire seemed to form the characters that had populated his dream of just a few minutes before.

"Let him be for a while, Your Majesty," Gwendal had said, and Yuuri had backed down into his seat. "We need to go over a few details we've been handed by Yozak Gurier from the south anyway,"

Yuuri sighed, still a bit uncomfortable after Wolfram had left crying. He knew though that the discussion afoot was important. He would just need to make it up to Wolfram later tonight.

"Please continue then, Gwendal," Yuuri said, giving him his full attention.

"Yozak and his comrades were able to trace the whereabouts of the omniscient Warheit Sagen in Qandar, which is in human territory,"

"Okay..?"

"You need to be careful, Your Majesty. Qandar is a fiercely independent state, and we have neither diplomatic nor strategic ties with their government," Gwendal went on.

"Would it be possible for us to hold an audience with the rulers?" Yuuri asked.

"I'm afraid not, Your Majesty. Whatever business you have in the city you must conduct in secrecy, as the group that rules Qandar does not trust foreigners nor do they favor outside dealings," Conrad answered.

"I see. Can't we at least try then? I'm sure we'll be able to work something out –"

"King Yuuri, please believe us when we say that to search for Wahrheit is the best option you have of settling this without initiating a conflict," Conrad had said.

And that had been that. Sometimes Yuuri wondered if he would ever be told anything straight in Shin Makoku. Then again, it wouldn't be Shin Makoku then, would it?

A stirring sound drew Yuuri's attention to the sleeping bag beside his. The boy had awakened, and was blinking at Yuuri sleepily.

"Hey," Yuuri greeted the lad.

The boy stood up straight at once and bowed low. "Your Majesty!"

Yuuri laughed good-naturedly and motioned for the boy to assume a sitting position beside him. He'd tried to dismiss the young man several times but the boy had followed him over and over in the last week that Yuuri'd given up all hope of ever sending the boy away.

After all, boys are boys, Yuuri surmised. He himself was still in his teens. He understood that boys wanted adventure. Yuuri wondered if his baby would be like this later on, and he'd kept Glenn around for company after all.

Yuuri showed Glenn a boyish grin. "You sure you don't want to go home in the morning?"

The boy shook his head and grinned back. "I'm sure. Please let me be your guide, Your Majesty! I was sold as a slave here when I was younger but I'd managed to escape. I'd be able to help you," the boy begged.

Yuuri smiled indulgently. In the past week, the boy was starting to remind him more and more of Wolfram. WAIT. Sold into _slavery?_

The boy started at Yuuri oddly. "Your Majesty? What's wrong?"

But Yuuri said nothing and just held the boy in his arms. "How could your parents do that to you?"

The boy looked away, and Yuuri heard the righteous anger in his voice. "It's not their fault they died, Your Majesty," then he turned around to face Yuuri again. "Besides, I'm happy as I am now," he said, smiling brightly again.

Yuuri smiled back. "I'm glad," he said. Then he remembered the time and asked the boy to go back to bed.

While Yuuri was tucking himself in, his last thoughts were of asking Wolfram to let him adopt Glenn.


	15. Page 15

Greta looked every which way, but try as she might, she could not glimpse her abductor. Still the princess struggled against the silken threads that bound her hands no less securely than steel chains. "You won't get away with this! If my fathers find out you kidnapped me they –"

"Will what? Your family doesn't even know you were gone!" said a hollow voice that sounded almost like it came from everywhere in the dark and humid dungeon.

"You're wrong! They would be looking all over for me by now!" Greta screamed.

"I think not, my little foundling princess," it replied. "How long have you been here? Almost a month? Wake up, Princess! You were adopted because they felt sorry for you," the voice declared haughtily.

"What's more," it continued, "the man you promised yourself to is probably relieved that he won't have to marry you now,"

"He's not! He—"

"We know he never slapped you,"

"So what? You don't know us! You don't!"

The man pushed back the cowl to reveal his face and smirked triumphantly as the princess' mouth fell open upon recognizing him. "Oh don't I?"

The princess's screamed "NO!" then resounded all throughout the fortress.

Wolfram woke up in a cold sweat, his hand on his abdomen in a defensive stance. He wanted to scream, shout, and cry, but he did not know why.

Wolfram scrambled out of bed and left Gwendal a note. He couldn't stand by while his family was coming apart at the seams. He headed to the dresser and changed to his riding apparel.

Gunter paced restlessly near Gwendal's desk, unaware that the grey-black-haired man was watching him.

"Sit down," Gwendal finally ordered.

"I think they are on to His Majesty, Gwendal," Gunter agitatedly replied.

"It will be all up to Yuuri now, then." Gwendal concluded.

Yuuri sneezed himself awake, and the sight that greeted his eyes was not the most pleasant at all.

Glenn was being gripped roughly by two unarmed but seemingly very strong men who wore hooded cloaks, and looked much like the Catholic monks in his original world. One look told him though that, whoever these men were, they were _anything_ but pious.

"Something tells me you're not the welcoming committee," Yuuri commented sarcastically, as he prepared to use his powers.

Strangely, his palms as well as the ground at his feet stayed dry beneath him. At this, Yuuri was alarmed, not for himself, but for the boy with him.

"We sort of are, Your Majesty. This is Midden Qandar," one of his captors smirked.

_**Sayo's note: **"Midden" means "central" in Dutch._


	16. Page 16

Wolfram's steed raced as if it had wings afoot, treading all terrains and choosing only the softest ground to step on so as to pass the least impact onto his pregnant master. Wolfram appreciated the beast's sentiments and made a mental note to retire it in comfort once they got back.

He had received word from one of the carrier pigeons about Yuuri's whereabouts and had gone straight to the forbidden region in the desert that was Midden Qandar.

Yuuri struggled with his chains. He was getting weaker and weaker by the minute… he would die soon for sure – his whole life was flashing before his eyes. He had to get out. He just had to.

"Your Majesty! I see you are awake. I trust you are comfortable with what little we could get you settled into? This set-up cannot be so different to what you are accustomed to, boy king…" said one mysterious cloaked felon. Surely enough, the room they were in was richly appointed, not too unlike the sitting rooms of either maharajas or emirs, maybe even of sultans in the Middle East on Earth.

Yuuri seethed. "Who are you calling a boy? I am a married man and a father, nineteen years old. I am a full-grown demon and if you do not let me go this instant I will show you just how much of a demon I can be!" He growled, even though both his hands were in shackles.

Insolent laughter meant to wound followed. "Such vehemence! How sure are you that I am not he whom you seek?" The voice from beneath the cowl inquired.

Yuuri was silent. He remembered that he _ventured _into Shinzo Ningen territory voluntarily. He was not taken captive forcibly for no reason. Whichever way he looked at it, he was guilty of trespassing.

The laughter began once more, this time softer, less wounding. "Hmm… for the great Demon King of powerful Shin Makoku to come to our humble territory, there is only one answer I can think of to pay the honor of this visit to,"

Yuuri squared his shoulders and sat up straight, but his tone was of a relenting nature. "Yes… I have come to seek the advice of the immortal Warheit Sagen, Sage of the Shinzo Ningen," Yuuri said.

The cloaked being sighed and produced Glenn, bound to a big board by chains and shackles, hanging haplessly like the captive creature he was.

Yuuri's words took on a tone of defiance once more. "GLENN! Let him go! I am going to adopt him! He will be my son! Please! He's just a child! He has no part in my quest!"

The entity in the robe shook his head and flicked his wrist, darkening the room entirely save for where Yuuri, he and Glenn were.

_Dramatic_, Yuuri thought. As he was thinking thus his wrists were already starting to slip from the shackles, water loosening them with each passing moment. He would make them all pay. He would hold every single one of these Jedi rejects between his water dragons' teeth.

A sentinel from outside what seemed to be a palatial tent came in running.

"Sir! A Lord Wolfram von Bielfeld has come to claim his husband. He knows that the Demon King is our –"

"Guest," The cloaked being finished for his soldier. "Please, usher Lord Wolfram in,"

When Wolfram stepped into the pavilion, both the cloaked one and Yuuri's jaws dropped. Wolfram seemed illuminated from within, and his face glowed with a righteous anger that would have told anyone that crossing him would mean imminent death, or at least serious physical injury. Wolfram looked like a Valkyrie fresh from battle, a formidable sight if there ever was one.

As could be expected, Wolfram started barking orders like he owned the place as soon as he got there. "YOU! You will untie this wimp and set him free along with this boy he said he wanted to adopt! I come alone but I have the entire armed forces of Bielfeld and now, the whole of Shin Makoku under my command, a fact that this wimp of a husband of mine is just too kind to remind you of!"

The cloaked figure was stunned at the passion with which this foreigner expressed himself and the confidence with which he conducted himself. He could fix that though. There was still the Anti-Demon charm Shinzo Ningen were infamous for.

Wolfram seemed prepared for it. Grinning evilly, he said, "Don't even think about it! I am carrying two full Mazoku within me who have yet to gain souls, so they are not yet truly alive. Yet, they already have their powers which I will have no qualms of exhausting on you if you so much as lay a finger on my husband and me,"

Yuuri was horrified. Surely Wolfram was bluffing! Twins? More than that, Wolfram would expend their babies' powers in battle? If this was a nightmare, he wanted it to stop, and soon!

The hooded one seemed to buy it and did not try to reach for the charm in his pocket. This Lord Wolfram had, after all, gotten this far. It only meant he'd already bested all of the men that were stationed outside.

Yuuri was still frozen in his place. If Wolfram had already been using their children's powers, how much more was left of them? Could they still be alive?

The creature in the robe relented. The look in Wolfram's eyes did not look like he would give in anytime soon. He would not have a reason to. Two Mazoku babies' powers were a force to be reckoned with. Four's powers would destroy the whole settlement.

"Alright, Lord von Bielfeld! You win!" The cloaked being shrieked.

Wolfram raised a questioning brow. He was bluffing. He hadn't channeled the baby's energy at all. His sword skills were more than enough to beat the daylights out of everyone in camp.

The entity in the cowl practically threw himself at Wolfram's feet. "Please… we have not harmed your husband. We merely wanted to know his business with us! It would be unfair of you to unleash your four children's power on us all!"

At this, both Wolfram and Yuuri were dumbfounded. FOUR?

"What? Didn't you know?" The hooded one asked. "You have four Mazoku inside you, your Serene Highness!" the hooded one exclaimed in anguish.

Wolfram put a hand to his abdomen and looked at the person dubiously, but knew when he was ahead. "Then unhand both my husband and the boy. And then tell me… are you the All-Seeing One?"

The cloaked one waved his hands at the blond-haired knight in a denying gesture. "No, Excellency, but I know for certain that you have four children within you,"

Yuuri's face morphed incongruously from shock to disbelief and finally to happiness. Then he remembered to ask where Wahrheit Sagen was.

"He will speak with you shortly, Your Majesty, as soon as we are able to glean an explanation as to his recent departure," the cloaked one said.

"He's dead? But he's immortal!" Yuuri exclaimed.

The cloaked being shrugged. " True, he is an immortal sir, and as such, does as he pleases,"

"Can you at least tell us where our children's souls can be found?" Wolfram demanded.

"No, I'm afraid not, Excellency—"

"Then who can?" Yuuri bellowed.

"Why, Sagen himself!" the hooded one answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Where IS he then?" Both King and Knight asked.

"Right behind us," the cloaked being answered, gesturing to Glenn.

"Uh… hi," Glenn sheepishly said.


	17. Page 17

"Oh GWENNNDAAAAL!" Annisina called incessantly through the hallways of Blood Pledge Castle. Since the reported disappearance of the little princess Greta she'd come up with a new machine she'd called "Princess Finder-kun" and it required one Mazoku power – meaning she needed Gwendal to man the strap-on arsenal of optic devices, ranging from spyglasses to telescopes to binoculars of differing magnifications plus a kaleidoscope or two, should the person using it want a break from looking at things as they really were.

Vision tools are great, but Annisina's contraption consisted of thirty-four different ones, which altogether weighed about half as much as the Mazoku she had in mind to use it.

Gwendal hid behind a walk-in pantry door in the kitchens quaking in fear. Austere and stoic he is for sure that even King Yuuri was intimidated by him from time to time, but he's no harder than his plushies when it came to Annissina, so that he deemed it essential that he never be found, at least until Annisina gives up about making him her lab rat.

Gwendal sighed. _Like that's ever going to happen_, he thought. He was glad no one could see him now. Tears were flowing down his cheeks in torrents.

"A-ha!" Annisina exclaimed when she found the cowering nobleman in the big cupboard. "I found you at last!" she cried, and her eyes took on a definitely evil glint.

Inside Greta's bedroom, Conrad inspected her personal effects, left untouched even by the palace guards who'd been in here to investigate her disappearance.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The room was left clean, except maybe for some dust that had collected because his mother had ordered the room to remain intact for any more clues to be found.

"You're not going to find anything here, Commander," a soft but surely masculine voice called out from inside Greta's breakfront.

"I know, Yozak. Still, I had to try this place," Conrad replied. Then he smirked. "You can come out of the closet now,"

Surely enough, Conrad's best friend and trusted scout Yozak Gurier was the one who stepped out of the dresser, and he was even wearing a high-necked maid's uniform such as Cheri's Angels did. Conrad couldn't help himself.

Yozak gritted his teeth. _Come out of the closet indeed, _Yozak mumbled under his breath.

"Come on, Gurier. We need to look for the princess," Conrad good-naturedly said, patting his friend's back affectionately.

"Don't you mean your **_fiancée_?**" Yozak pointedly inquired, but he did not get an answer.

Glenn rubbed his wrists to soothe the scrapes he got from having been fettered so tightly. He winced as his young skin seemed to burn under his touch that Wolfram took pity on him and healed him with the Bielfeld fire healing technique. Grateful as can be, Glenn rewarded his healer with a smile.

Yuuri watched the scene and smiled. The two seemed to get along famously. But then, how was he, a mere Mazoku who would surely live hundreds of years, be worthy of adopting an immortal? Yuuri shook his head sadly.

Glenn turned to the young sovereign and smiled at him as well. "My place is here, King Yuuri. Sure I do get apprehended like a common criminal from time to time when I try to escape to the outside world, but its okay. I do appreciate the thought though," Glenn ventured.

Yuuri sweat-dropped and chuckled in spite of his discomfiture. "That's creepy, Glenn,"

Glenn threw him a roguish smile. "Being worshipped for a freak talent for seeing things is an acquired taste, Majesty. Speaking of which, would you like me to tell your consort about your lecherous thoughts, too?"

Yuuri was flabbergasted. "WHAT LECHEROUS THOUGHTS?" He cried. _Yup, this kid has seen a LOT more than I have, for sure_, Yuuri thought, even as he saw that Wolfram found his unease thoroughly entertaining.

From the new glimmer in his consort's eyes Yuuri could also tell that the blond knight was starting to have some lewd thoughts of his own that could almost not wait for a more private time.

_I'm gonna get a homerun! _ The king thought triumphantly, already starting to make his ball plan for his next game with Wolfram.

Glenn laughed at Yuuri's characteristically baseball-related allusions and it was almost all he could do to give a straight reply. "Yes I have, sire. But don't let that get to you. I can see and hear everything, but even the future is beyond my ken," Glenn declared.

Glenn let Yuuri's flyball thoughts by to keep Wolfram within the thread of the conversation, but now as he gazed between his two friends, Glenn was starting to believe that the two men in his company right then were as incorrigible as rumored.

Glenn's last statement shocked Wolfram into alert. "Wahrheit,"

Glenn cringed at the name. "Glenn, please. Call me Glenn,"

Yuuri grinned. The kid was starting to show his advanced age. He was already lying about his name.

"Glenn. Our adopted daughter Greta has gone missing –" Wolfram began but Yuuri's shocked "WHAT?" stopped him then and there.

Glenn smiled placatingly at the two of them and gestured for them to calm down. "Don't worry. Greta is right where she needs to be at this moment,"

"But –"the two parents tried to reason.

"No buts, Majesty, Excellency. You have a tight itinerary to keep. The sands of time fall constantly and we cannot afford for your children's souls to be buried beneath them." Glenn finished gravely.

Yuuri and Wolfram looked to each other for reassurance and barely found it. They had faith in each other, but they were reasonably shaken by the blows they were taking one after the other.

Gwendal lumbered wearily along the castle halls under the weight of "Princess Finder-kun" which made him look like an alien anemone with glass-tipped spikes. It did not help either that Annisina was acting like a taskmaster and asking him to look into every nook and cranny of the palace, as if the princess could have fitted herself even in small cracks in the walls. He dared not complain though. Annisina could stare down a Cyclops when provoked.

"Get a move on, Gwendal! We're not gonna find Greta this way!" she spat, pushing Gwendal along and occasionally even kicking him forward with her foot.

"_It's not like she's only five apples tall_," Gwendal mumbled.

"WHAT?"

"Oh nothing. Let's check in **_molehills_** too, you never know," Gwendal answered not too happily.

Annisina laughed almost maniacally. "Oh Gwendal. Whoever said you're as lively as a tree could not be more mistaken!"

Gwendal raised a brow. "And who, pray tell, is that?"

"Why, your crush of three hundred years, of course – Gunter!" Annisina chimed.

The next moment though it was Gwendal getting crushed as he fell under the weight of "Princess Finder-kun" and Annisina's unwitting, but nonetheless cruel jibes.


	18. Page 18

"Yuuri…" Wolfram gently nudged his husband awake. "It's almost dawn, darling, we need to get going," Wolfram softly said as he tried to coax his sleeping lord into wakefulness.

"Mmm… I'll promise sign that Shin Makoku Tap Dancing Association grant later if you'll just lemme get five more minutes…" Yuuri mumbled in his sleep.

Wolfram gave a grunt of annoyance and muttered "Wimp," under his breath, but he knew exactly how to get Yuuri up in ten seconds flat, a failsafe he'd counted on for many a morning like this back at Blood Pledge.

Wolfram leaned over Yuuri's sleeping form and whispered, "Yuuri… I want a second inning," in the breathiest, most sensual way he could manage without getting turned on himself.

Surely enough, Yuuri was wide awake in an instant, so Wolfram had to blissfully endure being grabbed for a deep, breath-stealing kiss for five seconds so he could make good time on the ten-second wake-up call.

When Yuuri realized he'd been played yet again (this trick never got old with him, it seems), he sat cross-legged and indignant on the feather bed in the suite they were provided, pouting at Wolfram like a disgruntled child.

_Works every time_, Wolfram thought, sniggering evilly at his husband before he tossed him his clothes. Wolfram himself was already dressed in his smart Bielfeld military issued uniform, sword already in scabbard, ready for anything.

When Yuuri was fully dressed, he looked in concern at Wolfram because the idea of the heavy Bielfeld family sword being strapped to his pregnant spouse's middle did not sit well with him.

Wolfram blinked twice, his head cocked slightly to one side as he habitually does when he does not know what's going on. "What?"

Yuuri pointed towards the sheathed blade securely attached to Wolfram's belt. "That thing… is it safe for you to wear it over… them?" the king asked, his brows furrowing a bit.

Wolfram smiled, walked towards Yuuri, put his arms around his husband's neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. When Yuuri pouted (because he wanted much, _much _more), Wolfram gave him an I'll-make-sure-I'll-wear-you-out-tonight-you-sexy-Wimp kiss which left Yuuri's head spinning, but not enough so he wouldn't understand when Wolfram answered, "Sure it is. They're still so small that my hard and sculpted abdominals can still protect them," a reply which made Yuuri's situation no better at all.

It was another fifteen seconds before Yuuri realized his consort had already walked out of the richly furnished tent they'd been assigned to. It would have been twenty seconds actually if a sharp "Come on, Wimp! We have a long way to go!" from Wolfram had not cut into his daze.

"Conrad!" Yozak called out. His friend was already ten paces ahead of him. Normally Yozak would have been more than able to keep up, but they were walking with ten inches of snow underfoot. This was NOT a walk in the park.

"We found nothing in the princess' room. The guards did not see anything or anyone come near the castle. There is only one person I can think of who could have taken her to spite me," Conrad declared, his voice seething with rage.

Yozak smirked. Maybe Conrad wasn't as averse to marrying Greta as he lets on. "Perv," Yozak commented good-naturedly as he hoped to the Great One that his feet don't freeze off.

Gunter looked pensive as he searched the palace archives for information about the history of both-male marriages in both the lower royalty and the upper nobility in Shin Makoku. Yuuri was the first-ever monarch to have married another man, but there were enough princes and dukes to refer to. The results were not good ones, though. _Dissolved. Dissolved. Dissolved._ Every single one of the marriages were either annulled or ended in divorce, and the only reasons given were "irreconcilable differences" under these listings.

Marriages that were known to have parented adopted children fared well, though. _What could be the correlation_? Gunter went over in his head. _Statistics do not lie. These couples all tried to retrieve souls for their kids but returned from their journey abhorring each other. His Majesty and Lord Wolfram… _

The same instant that a flash of hope entered Gunter's heart, his personal sense of justice quashed it. "Gwendal needs to know about this," Gunter told himself as he grabbed the scrolls and strode towards the door to head for the Head of State's offices, only to find said Head of State unconscious with and decidedly irritated, fully-dressed Annissina straddling his waist as she tried to revive him.

It was unfortunate that Gwendal picked that exact same moment to come to his senses. "Uh, Gunter, this is not what it looks like. She… she…"

Gunter's brow twitched. "Is not my current concern. I'll leave these for you to look into, _post haste. _I'll send out a couple of scouts to follow the king and Lord Wolfram with copies of these documents," he snapped, before he slammed the door shut behind him.

Gwendal lay back, totally deflated. "Why Annie? WHY!"

"Oh stuff it, Gwendal." Annisina said crossly.


	19. Page 19

"_Ride towards the sunrise all day, stopping only when the moon rises to take its place. Do this until you come upon the Ruwenzori – The Mountains of the Moon. There thrives the Flower of Solon, the most beautiful of blooms within which is the soul of your first child – a daughter. King Yuuri, Your Excellency, please be very careful. This famous flower can destroy the world if not handled properly. May the Great One guide you…" _

Yuuri shook his head at how calm and cool Glenn had been saying those words. _Destroy the world?_ Yuuri winced at the thought. _This world sure seems to be littered with things that can annihilate it… _Yuuri thought, cringing._ It's like this dimension has a death wish!_ Yuuri shivered a bit at that and for that he earned himself a head-butt from an irritated Wolfram who rode behind him and held the reins of Yuuri's horse Aoi.

"What are you fussing about, wimp?" Wolfram asked, annoyed.

"It's just that Glenn suddenly seemed so ominous about this Flower of Solon," Yuuri answered quietly.

Wolfram's forehead wrinkled just a little bit as he furrowed his brows. _Flower of Solon… where have I heard that before? _"I'm sure we'll live through it like we did those Boxes. Now be a good passenger and quit fussing like a baby! Honestly Yuuri, I don't know who kicks more – you or them!"

Yuuri's eyes bugged out. "They're kicking already?!"

Wolfram's brow twitched. "_No, _they're not kicking _yet_. They won't start kicking until well into next _year_, _Yuuri_," Wolfram hissed, his voice laced with venom. He'd been extra irritable lately. Pregnancy was not something he thought he'd experience, and all the changes in his body were taking their toll on his disposition, not that he wasn't already snippy to begin with.

"Wolfram? Are you okay?" Yuuri asked, concerned.

Wolfram leaned his head on Yuuri's shoulder but kept his eyes on the road. "Yes, I'm just pregnant, is all," Wolfram answered softly.

Yuuri bit his lip and furrowed his brows not unlike Wolfram did earlier and then asked awkwardly, "I'm… sorry."

Wolfram laughed and then his tone took on a somber note. "There's no need to apologize, unless you want to say you're sorry about falling in love with me," Wolfram added in before he embraced Yuuri from behind because he himself was shivering a bit from the cold. Who knew desert winds could be chilly? Hot flashes and chills… Wolfram sometimes wished his body would just make up its mind what to feel.

Yuuri glared at Wolfram behind him and blurted out, "Hell no! I'd rather die than ever say I'm sorry for loving you! I've made my decision, married you, and I've fathered our children! You're stuck with me, baby, and you'd better like it!" Yuuri spat vehemently before he blushed profusely and fell silent. Wolfram sure knew how to work him up.

Wolfram gave him a shit-eating grin. "Glad to hear it, darling, because you're stuck with me as well for the next thousand years," he replied lovingly, if a bit smugly. _I am SO adored! _Wolfram thought triumphantly to himself.

Yuuri blew the bangs out of his eyes and basked in his family of five's warmth behind him. Even when he and Wolfram were vagabonds on a journey he still felt like a king.

Conrad hit the bone-dry log beneath his boot so hard with another desiccated piece of kindling that it had burst into flames, reflecting every emotion he felt that moment. _Lowenthal Ascott Fallbuoyer. _Conrad's rage seethed with the flames. _If he harms even a hair on Greta's head, fall buoyer or not, he's going down!_

Yozak cast a sidelong glance at his friend. He'd never seen Conrad this determined before, even when Conrad was protecting King Yuuri. There had got to be something he didn't know, something he'd missed. The orange-haired, cornflower blue-eyed emissary's curiosity was burning him. If he didn't ask, he'd burn to cinders even before the tinder in their campfire did.

Conrad ground the words between gritted teeth. "Don't even think about it, Lieutenant,"

Yozak started to throw a fit Wolfram would have been proud to call his own. "Aww come on, Conrad! I'm your best friend! I got your back in wars and battles! Please..?!"

Conrad glowered at him. "No,"

"PLEASE!!!"

Conrad sighed and yielded. He needed to tell someone anyway about this, and it might as well be Yozak, and it'd best be outside of Cheri's Angels' radar.

Yozak raised a brow at him as he took his seat by the fire and expectantly turned to his commander.

Conrad rolled his eyes before staring into the nothingness that was the all-encompassing night sky beyond the cave they'd used for shelter that night. It was a secret alcove that the Royal Intelligence used between runs and missions.

"This started a year ago. Wolfram had been teaching Greta how to play the piano for some time and one time I found Greta practicing. Toward the end of the song she sang I felt myself being drawn to her and surely enough, before I knew it, I was sitting next to her, listening to her intently. She has the sweetest, purest voice I have ever heard. I knew it would be impossible though, to marry her I mean because she was Wolfram's daughter so I'd contented myself with being her protector; became her father when Yuuri and Wolfram became too wrapped up in their marriage and overlooked their adopted daughter. I supposed it only got worse for Greta when we found out that Wolfram was carrying Yuuri's child. That was when I decided to…"

"To?"

"To ask Yuuri for her hand – so I could take care of her. But I think that I actually fell in love with her when she got herself engaged to me verbally to spare me from mother's orders. That she would be willing to throw her life away just to get me out of such a bind touched me here," Conrad pointed to his heart, his eyes searching Yozak's for the comprehension he desired.

Yozak put an arm around Conrad and patted his back. "Stupid. Every time Greta sang for Yuuri and Wolfram in the drawing room, she was not just trying to get them together you know," he sagely commented. "Greta was singing to you, Conrad,"

Conrad shook his head slowly in disbelief, but then he could only recall Greta's eyes and the words as they fell from her lips:

_Don't you know that I want to be more that just your friend?_

_Holding hands is fine but I've got better things on my mind._

_You know it could happen If you'd only see me in a different light;_

_Baby when we fin'lly get together, you will see that I was right._

Conrad remembered that time in the State Ballroom almost too vividly. Greta's delicate fingers on the piano, her crystalline voice as she looked into his eyes and almost pleaded with him in song:

_Say you love me -- you know that it could be nice._

_If you'd only say you love me, don't treat me like I was ice._

_Please, love me, I'll be yours and you'll be mine._

_And if you'd only say you love me baby, things would really work out fine._

He was standing guard then, as Yuuri and Wolfram were in that room watching Greta practice and it was that night at dinner that Yuuri had proposed to Wolfram to a second time, because of that song. It was also that night when Conrad's fate had been sealed -- he was done with the dead. His life had started anew in a song, and he would do anything to get the music back into his life he swore, gripping the metal blade of his saber, watching intently as his blood flowed from his palm down to the earth below; his blood pledge was made, his courage reborn.

* * *

**_Sayo_: **The lyrics are from "Say You Love Me", a song popularized by Patti Austin. I can't seem to get this songfic-writing bug out of my system! 


End file.
